A Revenge
by Aier
Summary: Bakura had overtaken Yugi, and Ryou had known peace for a few blissful days, but at what cost? What was the price they must pay, that Yugi had to pay, for this to have come about? (Chpt 5)
1. Who's where?

A Revenge

By Aier

A/N: Hey! This is my first Yu-gi-oh fic, I hope you guys out there like it. It's...highly depressing, I suppose, so KEEP IN MIND THE RATING PLEASE. There's going to be some disturbing chapters ahead, since angst seems to be a favourite of mine. Also this may turn slightly Yaoi-ish in the future ( male/male ), depending on what I decide on. Reviews will be welcome, I want to know what people think my writing is like. Thank you, and on to the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh, only the story.

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It hadn't ever been his choice, he thought silently. He had never asked for it to happen, but it seemed that fate had once again decided to make him target to the whims of those stronger than he. He realised, with much regret and sadness, that he had never known just how lucky he had been to receive a dark side that wasn't all dark; that would consider him as an equal of sorts. 

__

'And now...now it's too late' He sighed sadly.

Because he didn't have that anymore. Because Yami, his dear Yami, was gone. The pharaoh whom had not only been his other half, but had given _himself _the task of protecting him, was gone. The worst thing...

...was that he had a new light, a new 'aibou'. 

The last week he'd been with him had been horrendous. Yami had been cooler than usual, bordering on anger at Yugi. Sniffing quietly, he remembered with a shudder those few evenings when his...when he...when everything was just way too out of hand. Yugi should have known better. He should have...he must have done something, to deserve this. Yami wasn't evil. He knew that now, he really did. Yugi must have done something terribly wrong for it to go so astray. 

Now everything seemed so hopeless...

He didn't know whether Yami missed him or not. He didn't know whether he thought of him at all, whether he cared for what had happened to him. Bakura wouldn't let him know.

Yes, that's right. Bakura. The Tomb Raider. The one who wanted the Millennium puzzle so much he would kill for it. The one who hated Yugi with a passion for keeping it from him all this time, heated rival of Yami. The Yami whom had cared for Yugi at the same time as protecting the puzzle. 

Because of that fact, logic had concluded that Yugi should be punished. That is, Bakura's logic. Hence his present situation.

With a grimace and a great effort to be as quiet as possible, both in thought and actions, Yugi lifted his upper body off the floor. His whole body was sore, patches of dark colours showing where he had been hit the hardest. Wheezing at the effort and uncomfortable position, he managed to get on his hands and knees by forcing his legs to move. 

Oh, how Bakura enjoyed tormenting him about his legs. His short legs, his height. He would let him run, and Yugi always did because he never let go of the hope that he would escape. The buildings would always pass him by so quickly, the towering dark monsters seeming to leave him behind with no apparent end to the dark maze. He would fly through, almost believing he was free and almost able to let hope embrace his tired mind.

But no, his legs were too short and no matter how hard he pushed himself or how long his stride was Bakura would always catch up to him with his long, long legs. He had strength, like Joey, like his Yami, like Yugi didn't have now. 

He knew he had strength before but that had slowly diminished. He had been short but had not let others put him down because of it, he had faced up to his problem and accepted it. He had moved on from his terrible insecurity, his fears of isolation from the usual social groups. He had accepted it, just as he had accepted his lack of parents, and all because he had found a strength within him that made it all easier.

Bakura knew how to break him down. Bakura wasn't just using his normal torture methods...he knew Yugi. He knew exactly what buttons to push, what to corrode, what to bring out and how. He knew Yugi.

Bakura knew Yugi, and he was a sadist.

A sadist knew Yugi.

And Yami...he was gone.

Yami was gone.

All Yugi had now...

...was Bakura.

The sadist.

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	2. We will be

A Revenge

By Aier

A/N: All right, here's the next chapter. First and foremost, I wanna thank all the people who reviewed my story. The reviews helped a lot in writing the next chapter, and I hope that it suits your liking. I was so happy to hear from you! ^_^

Okay, so to answer some people. 

Hiso-chan - I'll try to explain a little more, but that comes in this _and _the next chapter, which I'll try to get out soon. Sorry if you're still confused after this one, let me know okay (Please?)?

Sparky16 - you don't want Yaoi? All right then, I'll keep this as Yaoi-free as I can (which I don't think will be too hard, I've never written Yaoi before). Keep in mind that this will still be angst, and abuse is also present, so if those don't bother you then read on!

juvi - too short? ^_^; sorry! I made this one longer, see?

Solitaire (and Xpyne who was at school) - Yugi/Bakura? Nope, no Yaoi on this fic it seems. ^_~

Neko Oni and Slyhterinette - Thanks so much for reviewing! Relationships will eventually be cleared up, promise, and hope you like it!

Warnings: Abuse (beatings) and overall angst, KEEP IN MIND RATING PLEASE.

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh and its characters don't belong to me, only this story.

'~~~~~' divides scenes, ie what other people are doing at the time that the story is happening.

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It was the law of Insanity to be unlawful.

He wondered of this, as he drifted between wakefulness and dreams. Occasionally black shifted into his mind, or flashes of white and red that shrieked purple. There was a general feeling of discomfort that hovered so close to him, but he could not tell from where. He seemed to be disembodied. 

Many things, many things...

A stray thought formed the face of a white devil, outlined in maroon, and was lost as soon to a shadow with red eyes, which was also quickly overcome.

A pain appeared somewhere in his centre, gradually, steadily growing and gnawing at his insides. There was a beast inside of him, it wanted to get out, and it would do anything to get what it wanted.

He tried to find his strength, tried to find an arm to move and feel with. He tried to find a mouth to speak, to scream when the pain he felt reached its peak. He felt it would, and somehow it was not his first concern here.

A haze parted before his eyes, and he found a door which glowed black. Having found something he could relatively focus on he was able to find a hand, and summon the force needed to put his hand on the knob and curl his fingers around it. There was a hesitance he noted, a growing feeling that he did not want to join the world he would find through this passageway. He did not want to set foot outside this vastness he was in. It was lonely...but that emptiness seemed better than what he would find on the other side of the black door.

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__

What had he been reduced to? He didn't care, because there was no one outside this haven, this holy place of calm and serenity. Everything changed, the white haired boy thought ecstatically. Black...it wasn't so terrifying. And that horrible red was calming, soothing his insecurities and fears. How could it change so completely? 

Never had the stoic darkness been the comforting blanket it was now, and Ryou...he never wanted to let go of it ever again. He could not believe the infinite and unsurpassed understanding he saw within the spirit that spell had given him, having always believed a Yami to be a true darkness. Maybe he'd have to redefine his definition of that, for Yami was a true darkness. He was just not Bakura...and Ryou had never been so elated. Bakura had disappeared to somewhere, but Ryou didn't care and would not let go of his first true friend...because he...oh, he wasn't alone anymore, not with Yami...

Just as long as he was happy...and he was happy with the other spirit far, far away from him...

It was merely heaven, Ryou thought with a smile.

Nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

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There was a place between waking and dreams that Yugi had found. It was secret, was hidden, was a mystery he was too tired to solve anymore. How had he found it then? Who pushed him to the deep recess of his mind, to find this, to feel this, to breathe within the stale life he had been given? Maybe it was when he was just too weak to concentrate and his vision was hazy, but too full of pain and horrible discomfort to be able to rest. There was a place where maybe, it wasn't so bad. He searched for it, and searched for something he thought that perhaps he'd find within. What was it? Who danced through his heart, and refused to be known to the rest of him?

There was someone there always. He was...well, he was just there. Yugi had the feeling he knew him.

Who was it that looked back at him through the mirror?

There is a place in himself that he loathed, but craved for the simple fact that it was familiar and knew him at his worst, at his best, in every which way. Where is the being in a person that defines what that person is? It seemed to be a different part of himself. Now, how would that work...

It was there. That thought was there, and many others, but they had been so disorganised lately that he could not recognise them for what they were most of the time. Every thought was part of a jigsaw puzzle, and it was unmade and littered carelessly on every corner. That was because he was always left...cracked. He never broke, Yugi managed to be strong that way. The only way he'd ever been strong...and that was slowly...disappearing...

This world of thought and shaded memory suddenly exploded, broke and shattered, an ominous crash ringing in his ears with a deep sense of foreboding. His brain suddenly connected with the plane of consciousness, and he...

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__

Honda grinned and encouraged Tea as loudly as he could, proudly watching from the sides as she danced superbly before an increasing audience. The dance recital had gone well enough, and after her first disheartening performance she'd been able to control her nerves. Honda had been there for her every step of the way, along with Jou and when he could, Ryou. As for himself, he was doing good. He had not gotten into any sort of trouble for a long time, and people were starting to notice him as a possible friend...and boyfriend. He an Jou had met new people whom, despite their past differences, were really quite the same as them.

They had so many opportunities, Honda thought ecstatically. School had never made more sense, he was doing much better than before. There was no way he'd ever be as dedicated as Tea, but he wasn't barely hanging on anymore. He felt like he might grow up to be someone important after all this was done. Confidence in himself, that's what had changed. It wasn't just that he was stronger - it was that he had the drive should he find an interest. He was already saving up, having taken Jou's example.

What better time to prepare for their future than the present?

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And he awoke. White lights flashed through his vision, and a shadow became a form. The form...of...

Yugi froze, then screamed. And cried.

And screamed.

He started, and found he could not stop. There was maniacal laughter and fire in the air, licking at his bruised skin. He recognised the cold floor beneath him, recognised the broken vase beside him. That vase, the crash that had awoken him...cracked to a thousand little pieces...

'_Oh God...Oh...God, no! NO! PLEASE NO! NOO!_

But it was, and it was done. The vase that had held the remains of his dear grandfather, lost to a heart attack only months before, there on the floor. He reached and trembling hand to it, seeing only a blur of grey, eyes sore and cheeks stinging with the tears that ran down his face. He sobbed desperately, and shrieked when his hand was suddenly hit with a scalding liquid. He snatched it back, and looked in horror at the ashes, a small puddle consuming everything it reached.

"A pathetic man deserves such a fate. He was no better than you. Spineless human boy, did you really think I would forget about him?" A smirk covered his face, slipping on with such ease it gave Yugi a chill, "What do you think he feels like, now that you've let me do that to all that was left in this plane? The dead carry out their revenges in very interesting ways, boy." 

The scalding water burned his hand, soaked the ashes. Bakura stood over him with a steaming mug held in his wicked hands, and every word rang true. Yugi's fault...

" Why do you think that they've forgotten you, brat? Ryou - he's glad. I can still sense it. He doesn't care for what happens to you; you let it happen to him. You let him deteriorate...day..."

He knelt and threw the rest of the water on the ashes, listening to Yugi's shocked yells, feeling his feeble hands grasp his wrists long after the damage was done. With a scoff, he shook him off and watched the ashes be slowly consumed by the water so nothing was left, as though he were calmly watching a fire burn out.

"...after day..."

He turned and focused his eyes on Yugi's, letting the younger of the two see the intensity of his words. Yugi was lost in pools of brown, darkening like a hunter after its caught its prey, becoming his whole world as spiteful words washed over him in gentle waves. They prodded inside, like always, and this time his defence was so much weaker...

"...after day..."

He didn't want to believe it, he shouldn't. He knew what Bakura specialized in, knew that he was trying to get under his skin to do...

__

But I never did anything to help him...I just stood by...knowing...and I never did...anything...

The tender skin of the back of his hand scratched painfully against his rough clothes, and he bent over and held himself, his head lowering to the floor. There he tried to calm himself, to stop his rapid breathing and control the violent swivels of his mind. 

There was no noise, the world a blank disc, muted gasps that speedily grew in hysteria, he was no longer aware of the spirit beside him...the dispersing liquid that contained so much more...

His heart beat wildly in his chest, as though it would jump out and bleed itself dry.

He wished for oblivion.

As was in the nature of the act, Bakura would not leave him. Not a moment of peace, and his head was kicked to the side. His boneless body did nothing to defend itself, all will having left him as he landed in the puddle. He flinched violently, convulsing as his hair was grabbed and thrust in the liquid. The back of his throat prickled, an acid taste rose to his mouth an he gagged. He screamed, hot water suddenly thrown across the skin of his neck, just enough to cause pain but a relatively small amount otherwise. Both his arms were grabbed in a vice grip, and pulled back with a resounding crack. 

He thrashed, his vision filled with black patches, body shaking and unbearably hot. He could not find a sense of balance, and knew he was never on the ground for long, never still for long as he was beaten with malicious glee. Pain exploded in bursts all over his body, his voice lost amongst the roar...

crashes...

breaking glass...

...the mass destruction within the household...

Finally he was left lying with his back arched painfully, resting on a piece of furniture that dug into the small of his back. Blood rushed to his face, he coughed and shuddered as he tried to regain his breath instinctively rather than by choice. His arms lay spread, hanging over his head, feet barely resting on the ground.

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__

Grinning, Jou looked at the money held proudly in his hand. He thought of his sister, whom he'd always earned the money for, and her eyes. Her beautiful eyes...healed. She could see. It was the greatest feeling in the world, knowing he had done something for her for which she was so thankful of. He, for the first time in his whole life, felt that he had rightfully earned an honest and highly honoured title; that of a brother. He would remain devoted to her as always, and with that stressful time behind them, he could now concentrate on the little things he had given up for her before. He could save money again, and look to the future, or he could pay back all the free lunches his friends had given him...

Jou looked ahead and laughed in his loud, forceful way. Nothing could go wrong this time. Everything was perfect, so perfect he could hardly believe the pure fantastical feeling these joyous days gave him. He could clean his slate of all debts, big and small, and start anew. He felt he owed himself that much, owed life that much, because the way he saw it...

...life was good.

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'_It...It's not so bad...It's not...'_

His feverish brain flashed words, comforts, desperation. His eyes were dilated, rolled back in his head so that one could almost not see the lavender gaze of the boy. That was how Yugi remained, until the next moment of wakefulness that sought him on the hell that had become his life.

  
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	3. Passing

A Revenge

by Aier

A/N: I really, really hate my title. -_-; ....sorry, I just had to get that out. Anyway, this is the next chapter, and I've decided this isn't going to be a very happy fic. I've sort of figured out how it's going to end up, and I think it leans towards the sad-ending type. I'm still not sure though. ( By the way, this is not the last chapter. Or, it might be if people don't like the story, but it IS a sort of closure)

As will always be, a big 'thank you' to the people who reviewed!

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh and it's characters don't belong to me, but the story does.

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The day was clear, he noted with sullen interest. It was the kind of day that made one want to be outside, to take a deep breath of fresh air and go see old friends only for the sake of seeing them once more after long periods of separation. It was the kind of day that had a bright yellow sun in the sky, grassy green fields, and the softest shade of blues in the skies that would, that evening, turn to a fiery display that seemed created only for the passionate lovers of the world.

It was here that songbirds made their small nests. It was here one could, if one had the imagination and will, see the end of the rainbow only to see another behind that, and another, and the golden treasure that might not just be money.

This was a day of such happy things.

He could not think of a time when he'd hated a day such as this one with such a deep seeded resentment.

Ryou had never wished any harm to anyone. He was kind, or at least meant to be. He didn't wish to influence anything that meant mischief or pain. He had not thought that it would work; it had only been a little game he had played in one of his darker hours with Bakura. He had not really meant it, really he hadn't. It had seemed silly at the time, a little game that played with his hope for freedom.

He really had thought it was a simple game of his and nothings more...oh, _damn _it should have only been that...

What on earth was it that made grief gravitate to all that he touched?!

__

' That damned spell' he thought, trembling with rage. He wiped his eyes stubbornly and refused to look at anywhere else but the deep brown surface before him. The sun shone down cheerfully on him, and them, and he cursed it for the first time in his life. 

__

He had loved the sun, it was in his nature to love such joyful things. Why did it not mourn with Ryou now? Why was it that the birds didn't stop their songs, if only for a moment, just a little one? He wished them silence, and the sadness he felt. Ryou was bitter...but he didn't rightly know at whom.

Was it himself that he loathed? God, it could be.

__

'If only I had never found it...if only I had just let it be...'

But he hadn't. And this was the result. And Ryou...he would never forgive himself for it. _Never_. He would carry the shame, if only to somehow make up for what he had done. What he had pushed on Yugi. Yugi didn't deserve this...Yugi should have never even _met _Bakura. Yugi should have always had Yami there to be with him. Yami, whom had shown Ryou a kindness and compassion for his problems he had never thought would be found. Yami, whom for all his pride and strength, had understood and helped him through a life-long pain of Ryou's. 

Yugi should have had that. Ryou had been selfish...and weak. He knew he should have done something, sought help, anything. 

What was it that drove his attention-starved mind to that place, that place that reeked of the old and buried, the dead, the uncovered sanctity, the hideous wealth of possessive ancestors, and publicised it under the safety of the title of 'history' and 'museum'? He knew the cost of possessing an item of old when the spirits were unhappy. Did it make them unhappy to be shown like that? Under glass cages, scrutinized and examined at every angle for the rest of their miserable days?

Why had they uncovered such a dangerous book, Ryou wondered desperately, wringing his hands and unknowingly scratching his trembling fingers. What was it that drove a human to probe and test his boundaries? And why had he played along too?

That book, a spell book of an exiled mage of the black arts. He told of a way to exchange auras, to even out the energies to obtain the desired outcome. It hadn't ever said anything about the items, the ring or the puzzle, and yet his frantic mind somehow made the connection. 

What if it could help him escape the spirit within him?

His desire was so great, his shameless need for independence and tranquillity. He'd stolen the spell within his memory through the limited knowledge of Latin that he had. Oh, how long the evenings had been while he tried to make the language his own. All that effort, all that time inside a stuffy room with dusty books and frustrated half-answers...what did this make him now?

Hadn't he known something like this would happen? What made him become so blind to the situation? Everything had a consequence. It was the one thing he had never let himself forget, something Bakura had never let him forget...so why?

But Ryou...he knew...he knew why. It was because of something he didn't like to admit to.

It was his thoughtless greed, the part of him that would commit whatever crime necessary to escape the insanity of the other. The part that laughed in joy when he was no longer in _his _presence, knowing that it would not be him receiving the blows that night. The part that was all Ryou's, unbound from any shame or responsibility to anything or anyone. 

Why should he care, when no one had cared for him while Bakura shredded every piece of his mind? He nervously raked a shaking hand through his damp hair, blinking against a drop of sweat that fell into his eye. The yellow sun hurt his eyes now. Why had he wanted this...?

Because he would be left in peace. 

The spell, against all odds, had worked.

Yes, Ryou sobbed within his thoughts. He had been deliriously happy when he'd found out. But what of Yugi? 

He should have done something. Ryou was strong, he knew that. There were options, other options, and he had not taken them. Cowardice. Ryou had been a coward not to do anything. All those times, Bakura had been right. Every insult struck him, and he knew it was true. He could have done something...

In a quiet, rasping voice, he repeated it again. The foreign words that had become his prayer of hope, turned to prayer of forgiveness on this day, morphing to curse as the seconds ticked off the watch. The spell once uttered and written in a mighty wrath by that olden mage. 

He had been weak and selfish. He just had to get past petty fears, it was not so bad, he should have done something. He knew he could have somehow found the strength to ask for help. He wasn't completely helpless, he had only to think of taking the matter into his own hands. Ryou had been holding back for all this time. He knew that he could have gotten out by himself, with no casualties along the way.

He knew it.

He _knew _it.

A hand, frozen and pale, set down on his shoulder and Ryou noticed how hard he was shaking, the sickly feel of his clammy hands, and felt deep, raw sobs passing his lips. He clenched his eyes shut and willed his body to stop shaking, willed his sobs to stop. He needed to show respect. How could he be so disrespectful?! How?!

But they wouldn't stop, and no matter how hard he tried he just seemed to cry harder and feel guiltier and emptier and angrier and...and so, so helpless. 

He knew it was Yami's hand that silently lay on his shoulder, offering what comfort the pharaoh could bear to give, but he was also painfully aware of why his hand was so cold. It was the reason all of them were here. It was the reason why Ryou would never be the same. It was the reason why no one moved to comfort him, and why it was so hard for Yami to offer what little he could.

They'd always been there, why not then? The one time it was truly needed?

But Ryou couldn't take it anymore, and he suddenly collapsed. His legs just...they just folded beneath him, lifeless, and his knees hit the ground with a harsh slam. He lay his palms on the hard deep brown wood and cried, his head hanging low as he was overcome with deep, rasping sobs of pure misery.

Behind him, Yami stood stiffly, looking blankly at the coffin before him. In the golden light of that morning, those red orbs shone with unusual brightness. His intent stare never strayed from the sight before him, ignoring the harsh sobs that rang through this beautiful morning. 

The dark clothes he wore contrasted his childish nature sharply, they looked so unnatural on him that no one really believed that it was _him _that lay on that casket. They didn't want to. And he was so pale...

And now...

Yugi was dead. Nothing could change that.

And Ryou _knew_...

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	4. Set in motion

A Revenge

By Aier

A/N: First off, I would like to apologize. In the last chapter, I completely forgot to put warnings before the fic, which was kinda thoughtless of me. Sorry if people were somehow mislead by the nature of the fic.

The story will continue, and I hope people take the time to read it ( thank you to the reviewers!). As for Yugi...well, as I said, the ending is not set in stone, and anything might happen before I get there. There is a big influence with mixed realities in the chapters that will come, so keep in mind that my writing may not be the clearest. I WILL try to make things easier to understand before the chapter, though! ex/ the beginning of this chapter talks about the effects of the trade of millennium items.

Warnings: Hints of extreme violence, Cliffhanger (^_~) KEEP IN MIND THE RATING!

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh does not belong to me.

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The process of separation had been long; longer than the actual exchange. Yugi could still feel a part of Yami in him, as he knew Bakura could feel a part of Ryou within himself. For this fact, Bakura had tortured all that was and would have ever been of Yami from Yugi. He sullied his memories, warping his mind and severing their fragile attachment. 

__

It's not real, Yugi. It all just a fantasy you've created...it has always been only me...

Eventually it had gotten to a point where Yugi remembered nothing of Yami, his true Yami, and had fallen into a deep depression. Bakura had enjoyed watching him slowly deteriorate, enjoyed watching the boy's bewilderment and fright at the times of forgetfulness. A vague form would hover within his mind, and the boy had known. He had always know that it was Bakura who was taking away something special, something that Yugi knew he was terrified of loosing, but he couldn't stop it. He couldn't remember what it was he didn't want to loose, only that it tore him apart to forget. Weakness; Bakura knew it and exploited it. Everyone had a weakness.

This boy would pay for all the humiliation that bastard Pharaoh had put him through, the chains he'd made the murderer wear at his prime. Killing his chances at life, banished to eternal torment. The insanity of his existence raged for revenge. Bakura would make them both pay.

__

Only me.

When the body had been found, that was when Bakura had enjoyed his final victory. He had watched, banished to his golden prison, as the boy and the pharaoh discovered Yugi's frail little body. He had grinned in pure delight at their horrified faces, watching with a sick pleasure at the realisation in their eyes, and the misery that followed. When they'd taken his puzzle, for indeed it had been his at the time, their souls burdened with fury and sorrow, he'd laughed.

His revenge was not over yet. The fools could not guess at what he had planned for _that _one.

Now he waited patiently for the pharaoh to come.

It was a certainty that he would seek him, the rage in his heart would not let a thousand curses stand in his way. He would come and try to ensure his own justice, as twisted as Bakura's own. 

Bakura was not disappointed. The darkness surrounding him shifted and morphed into the pale form of the prince of the sun.

Bakura smirked. He knew what the pharaoh had come for, and he would gladly give it. It would be the last thing he did, if need be. The two stood still for a moment that became an eternity, dark facing dark, the pharaoh frozen in his anger.

He was so much stronger, Bakura saw. His dark brown eyes lowered as he gazed at the other Yami with hungry anger. What would it be like to destroy this one? The bastard had made the greatest mistake, growing to care for the violet-eyed one. It would be his downfall.

"How could you?"

The hissed words did nothing to Bakura, who merely stood there gazing arrogantly at Yami.

"Bastard...do you have any idea...of what you have done?"

There was something hidden there, in that bloody gaze. Something the pharaoh did not want to acknowledge. He would bring it out, the thief promised quietly. Then all would be set. Bakura grinned and turned his head the other way.

Yami's reaction was immediate.

In a sudden burst of raw energy, the darkness receded at the sudden presence of a white-hot light. An eye of blinding fire burned into Bakura's memory, imprinting itself at the back of his senses in cold revenge. He reeled with the force of it, only barely finding his footing to be caught in the way of a fisted hand. His head snapped back and he fell, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth.

Bakura's eyes flashed in fury, growling deep in his throat as his hands twitched with a need to strangle that pale neck, to see the _proud _pharaoh squirm under his hands and suffer like his _little light_ had. To watch his porcelain skin _break_, what a beautiful sight...yes, it had been blood that quenched his thirst, and now he was hungry again...

Violent images played in his mind, splattered a beautiful crimson that danced to the end.

Blood. Yes, Yami would know blood. He would _taste _it...

Another blow was dealt, hitting him squarely in the chest. Pain. He had dealt with it before, all he needed to do was to keep his temper in check. The pharaoh just didn't know what he was getting himself into.

He wouldn't know what hit _him_, that was for sure. All the physical pain in the world would not compare with the agony that Bakura would give the accursed pharaoh.

Bakura laughed, thoroughly enjoying this.

"Because he was pathetic," he sneered from the ground, answering a question Yami had not repeated because no answer would ever appease his anger, " Because he deserved all he got. Because...it was fun."

Blinded by rage, Yami slammed Bakura's head against an invisible floor. Bakura sprung to action, grabbing both the pharaoh's wrists and forcing him off of him. Immediately Yami fought back, and both spirits fell into a fight that had begun centuries before this moment in time. Their blows were dealt with deadly precision, not to stun but to kill. Who would die, thought Bakura, if he let the fight continue? He knew he could not truly die. No matter what was done, Bakura's existence would only change planes and live in another realm. Yami would not get his revenge.

Bakura would make sure he got his.

"He was weak!" Bakura screamed at the fierce pharaoh amidst their strikes, before dealing his final card. With a smile that said he was not all there, he suddenly slammed his hand forward, striking the pharaoh on the forehead.

"And so are you."

Darkness filled Yami's mind.

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	5. Anger, lurking thoughts

A Revenge

By Aier

A/N: Sorry this took so long (my excuse - the evil necessity of school). I hope you guys like it. Or...if you hate it, I suppose that's fine...this isn't exactly a 'cuddle and smile' story. By the way, Yami will be feeling VERY angsty for a while.

Basic explanation: Yami isn't himself. Why is that? What exactly is going on? Yugi seems to be on his mind, but a shadow lurks around his vision, one that manipulates...his stream of thought? But these are things he had thought about. Why is it he feels so hostile all of a sudden? (Okay, not really an explanation, but it sets you on the right track. Don't want anyone thinking Yami is evil, now, do we?...*stare*) 

Warnings: evidence of a beating, and afterwards re-mention of Yugi's death. Yami-torture.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh does not belong to me ( how often do we put these on? _ )

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Italics - Yugi

text - Yami

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Yami...I...um, I don't know...

His aibou had been afraid of him. 

Yami had only played the game within acceptable rules, and those strictly forbade killing. Murder. Something Yami had not truly done, something he would not do if it meant Yugi would be there, if it meant Yugi would be scarred for such an act. Yugi was afraid of all Yami would do to ensure their success. He didn't understand...he wouldn't. Yugi had feared him.

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Please I...I need to be alone now. Please.

He'd tried so hard not to show it, tried so hard to be polite while his terrified eyes followed Yami's every move with a victim's anxiety. He'd believed that he would turn against him, that Yami would dare touch the little one in a hurtful way.

Yami didn't like that at all.

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Yami...sorry...I didn't mean to...

He had not dealt with situations like these before. Before had been long ago, and then he had not had friends in the way these people had friends. He could not reassure the boy because he didn't know how. He hadn't known what he could possibly do or say to calm his fears, and everything he did only seemed to make it worse. If he showed his offence, his awkwardness with the situation, or worse of all his anger at himself for his ignorance, then Yugi would cower and look at him with his wide violet eyes. He would tremble and flinch at his voice, he would let silent tears fall at night when the puzzle glowed in a weak effort to banish darkness from his small figure. When Yami was around Yugi would be guarded, weary, uncomfortable. 

It wasn't very hard to guess that Yugi hadn't wanted Yami around. In any way.

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I'm kind of busy now...we'll...maybe...I'm sorry. 

Yami had only done what was asked of him, he had only done what he thought was best. He had been helping Yugi get his only living family back, and if that fool Kaiba chose to use cheap tricks to get his way then that was his problem. Yami wouldn't wait for him to stop and play nice. There was much more in the balance than he could afford to loose.

Yami had only done what would ensure a happy reunion.

Yugi feared...and hated Yami for that.

Yami would have left it all to the little one, but he'd chosen to protect him and his happiness. He had chosen to help when he had no reason to at all. He had gotten them through their trials, used all his knowledge, courage, and strength to assist them and _still _Yugi refused to believe him trustworthy.

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Yami please_, I am...I just..._

After all of this, Yami stuck with him. Even when Yugi had desperately tried to push him away, he'd insisted and gotten through. Without him, Yugi's grandfather would not have lived those days he'd had left. Now even he, the old man, was dead, and it had been Yami whom had given him the treasure of life for a little while longer with powers Yugi did not comprehend...and now Yami thought that maybe Yugi blamed him for killing his grandfather as well. Like if Yami had not intervened yet again, Sugokoru might have lived to breathe another breath.

Yami thoroughly disliked that.

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Stop!

Yugi had expressed little gratitude, all borne of fear. He had ignored Yami as much and as often as he could. He had distanced them, tried to block out all that was Yami from his mind. There could only be one result that would come from this. 

Yami was exiled to his mind, locked within his soul room.

Eventually he'd had to find a way to form a temporary physical body, to get out of the darkness the millennium puzzle had imprisoned him for longer than he cared to account for. Eventually. Being in that eternal darkness did something to you, it changed you. Being in there was a personal hell.

He would not stand for being banished there again; not when freedom was so near.

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What are...god, please...what...?

Yugi, once he had faced the pharaoh for the first time in the flesh, had panicked. He'd thrown the puzzle away and locked himself in his room, his frantic thoughts revealing that he only wanted him gone, that he believed that Yami would hurt him or use his magic against him, that he wished to be free of the constant terror brought on by the one who could not be closer to him.

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No...I...no! Stop it! Stop!!!

Eventually Yami had had to perfect his physical body. He'd had to make it so he wasn't dependant on Yugi, not entirely, to exist. He could be his own person outside the puzzle, and he did not need Yugi's body and did not need to use all of his strength.

He'd had to find out how, to stop Yugi from destroying the puzzle and sending him back to torture. The boy had been hell-bent on it.

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No! Iie! Sto...Yamete! Yamete! Itai!

He hadn't ever truly known where Yugi was from...he didn't know that the words he heard were not in Egyptian. He only heard the true sounds leaving his small pale lips if he listened closely. 

Yami had made sure to listen better; it could mean preventing his banishment from one who should have shown gratitude to him for all he'd done.

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ITAAIIII!!!

Wincing, Yami lowered his head and clutched at his ears, hearing the resounding scream of pain echo around him. Another soon followed, and another, all piercingly different, all holding such rich levels of pain and suffering. Memories surfaced, seeping into his brain like venom, and somehow Yami didn't think they all belonged to him.

Where was he?

A leg, bruised and lying naked on a carpeted floor.

A chest, black and blue and green, rising with too much effort and lying still for too long.

An open mouth, pleading and screams and choked gasps leaving ruby red lips, jerking to the side as a hand met that delicate cheek with bruising force.

Striking violet eyes open wide with shock and frozen pain, dulled as something inside broke.

And someone cackled through this, Yami's chest rumbling with hidden laughter, Bakura's smirking face bleeding to form his own, and both were one as he stood triumphantly over a body that slowly, oh so slowly stopped shivering and jerking once in a while.

He looked up, and there was a mirror in front of him. His face twisted into a sneer, brown eyes darkening as a rag doll with a familiar face appeared behind him somewhere.

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Do you want to live forever?

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End file.
